We celebrate the second Sunday of November with our next great celebration, the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome.
In the Roman Empire, in the year 313, Emperor Constantine gave freedom of worship to the Christian community. In addition, in order to build a church, he also gave the pope the Lateran land that came to him as part of his wife’s dowry. That church is now known as the Basilica of St. John Lateran.
The St. John Basilica is the first Christian church. It is the highest ranking of the four major basilicas, it is the highest ranking Catholic church in the world.
There are a couple things about being the first Christian church that the Christians would have noticed right away.
First, for the first time, you entered the church on the short side and walked toward the single apse, the semicircle dome in the ceiling. The apse represents Christ, who comes towards those who celebrate the Eucharist.
Second, you would also notice that the altar had moved. No longer outside the building for the sacrifice of animals, the altar is now inside, where the eternal sacrifice of Christ, present in the Eucharist, is offered.
This week we Lectio the Liturgy with the Collect for the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome.
O God, who from living and chosen stones prepare an eternal dwelling for your majesty, increase in your Church the spirit of grace you have bestowed, so that by new growth your faithful people may build up the heavenly Jerusalem. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
Whether you have been to see a great basilica, or if you’ve seen them in pictures, it will be easy for you to imagine the way the stones and the majestic columns create the architecture that compose the structure.
When the prayer speaks of stones chosen for an eternal dwelling for God, we can imagine what that looks like. A church built to last for ages, housing a Tabernacle where the Lord resides.
But even greater than those stones taken from the earth are the living and chosen stones that are you and I, made from the earth, but unlike the cold stone, we are living and breathing tabernacles of the same God. We are both, the building and builders, asking for the grace to build the heavenly Jerusalem.
In our second reading from 1 Corinthians, we read that we are God’s building. In Greek we find learn that word used for “building,” oikodomē, which means both building as a noun and the act of building. As a building (noun), our foundation is Jesus. As I prayed into being a builder, Jesus reminded me that He has already supplied all the tools and building materials, there’s just one thing we need. His grace.
He is more than ready, He has been waiting for us to ask Him for the grace we will need to keep building. The heavenly Jerusalem has been under construction for a long time, actually, it’s been God’s plan since the beginning of time. I would love to tell you that it is going to be a beautiful place, but it already is.
We are preparing an eternal dwelling. Eternal means that it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, and we get to be a part of it.
Today when we ask God for the grace to be a builder and to be a building, trust that He’s given it to you. The Spirit is on the move in the world today. There is a kingdom to build and we get to be a part of it!